


Gone, But Far From Forgotten

by noisey_burlesque_peach



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Benzaiten Steel deserved to live, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Mick and Juno are sad, Minor Character Death, Post 3.22, Secret Relationship, post episode: s03e22 What Lies Beyond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29133762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noisey_burlesque_peach/pseuds/noisey_burlesque_peach
Summary: If you had asked Juno Steel an hour ago, he would have said that Mick Mercury was born on Mars, lived his whole life on Mars, and would eventually die on Mars. Now he’s not so sure.
Relationships: Mick Mercury & Juno Steel, Mick Mercury/Benzaiten Steel, background Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel, one sided Mick Mercury/Juno Steel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Gone, But Far From Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first and last time I’ll write angst so enjoy it.

The smoke in that dim room clung to Juno like static. It coiled around his curves that were accentuated beautifully by the tight fit of his red dress. He clutched his purse tight, coat draped over it to conceal the treasure that he had stuffed in it. It was getting late, all he needed was one more expensive looking piece of jewelry and then he would leave.

It was supposed to be a quick job. Nothing too valuable was to be taken, and the marks were not particularly difficult. It was practically pickpocketing, just enough to tide them over while they looked for Nureyev. 

The heist went exactly as planned all the way up until it didn’t. Juno has just pushed himself off the bar, slipping a golden wristwatch off of an elderly gentleman when a hand came up to tap him on the shoulder. 

“J! How have you been?” Juno spun around on his heels and came face to face with none other than Mick Mercury. 

“Mick?” Juno asked, unable to believe his eyes, “what are you-“

“Long time no see Juno! Man do I have some stories to tell you!”

“Hey! Someone took my watch!” The man behind Juno shouted. In that moment he had a decision to make. He could stay and speak with Mick, satisfy his curiosity, but risk being caught, or he could bolt. He settled for the latter.

“That’s my cue, I really gotta go Mick,” Juno said, shuffling away from him and towards the door. 

“Hey wait-” Mick caught Juno’s wrist “-you’re a detective J, you can help him!”

“No I can’t Mick. I really have to go now.” Juno yanked his wrist out of Mick’s grasp.

“Oh come on. You were the greatest PI on Mars! You can find it no problem.”

“I’m the one that took it Mick,” Juno growled, low enough that only Mick heard, “now will you let me go goddamnit?”

“But J why would you-“

“I don’t have time to answer questions Mick, I have to go. Come with me if you’d like but I can’t stay here any longer.”

Juno turned and began speed walking towards the door, not waiting to see if Mick would follow. He made it outside and down the street a bit before a voice behind him rang out 

“Juno, wait up,” Mick panted, “how are you so fast in those heels?”

“Years of practice,” Juno mumbled, “come on, over here.”

Juno led Mick down a secluded alley where they would have some privacy from prying ears. He pulled out his comms, calling Buddy.

“Juno darling, how did it go?” Buddy asked.

“It went fine. I got enough to hold us over.”

“Perfect. Send me your location and Jet will be there in the Ruby 7 in a moment.”

“Look Buddy, I ran into an old friend at the party, you mind if I take some time to talk with him?” Juno asked.

“Ransom?” Buddy asked, almost under her breath. 

“No, just an old friend from Mars.”

“Well, alright darling, but we’re leaving in the morning.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll be back by then.”

Juno hung up and sighed deeply, turning back to Mick then. 

“Wanna get a hotel room? I’m beat but we have a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah, that sounds really good J.”

Half an hour later they were in a trashy motel room sipping on coffee that tasted like it had been made in a dirty trash can. 

“What are you doing here Mick? Why aren’t you home on Mars?”

“There’s nothing there for me anymore J. Sasha left, then you left. All I really have is a studio apartment and the memories of all the shit I’ve done to keep me up at night.”

“That’s deep stuff Mercury,” Juno said.

“I sold everything I had and bought a one way ticket off of Mars. I’ve been planet hopping ever since. Working odd jobs to afford food shelter. And honestly Juno, I feel amazing.”

“I’m really happy for you Mick,” Juno said with a weak smile.

“Now what are you doing here? You’re a thief now?” Mick asked.

“It’s a long story, but yeah. I was stuck in a rut back home, it didn’t matter how many cases I solved the world never seemed to get better. I was solving petty mysteries for the people who controlled the world. Now I’m taking from them and using the money to help people like us.”

“Call me old fashioned J, but I don’t see how stealing a wrist watch is helping anyone.”

“This is just to hold us over,” Juno said, tossing the watch on the bed, “our ship got ransacked by Dark Matters a couple weeks ago, and one of our own jumped ship, so we’re out looking for him.”

“Dark Matters? Did you tell Sasha? I’m sure she would help you guys out.”

“Sasha was the one leading the charge. She tried to manipulate me into helping her out, but we outsmarted her.”

“She isn’t- Sasha’s alive right?”

“If Vespa had her way she wouldn’t be, but yes, we left Sasha alive.”

They were both silent for a moment, neither one knowing exactly what to say.

“How did we get here Mick? How did we go from best friends to backstabbing each other?”

“I ask myself that every day Juno. I wish we could go back to the good old days so badly it hurts.”

“There were no good old days Mick. We were alcoholics by eight, Sasha and I both lost our only sibling, we were constantly in trouble with the law. The good old days were just as shitty.”

“That’s not true J. Sure, things might have been bad back then but we had each other.”

Juno didn’t reply. Mick took a moment to look him over. He looked different than when he left, he looked more confident in himself somehow. The way he crosses his arms and legs, knee poking out of the slit of his gown. 

“You look really beautiful tonight J,” Mick said.

“Oh, uh, thanks Mick. You’re not so bad yourself.” It was true, Mick was wearing a black suit with a bright gold shirt underneath. This was possibly the nicest he had dressed since graduation. 

“You know, it’s funny. I used to have a little bit of a crush on you Juno,” Mick said, not meeting his eye. “It started when we were nineteen right after...” Mick trailed off for a second, not wanting to finish that thought. 

“You’re not coming on to me Mick, are you? Cause I hate to break it to you but I’m taken. At least, I think I am.” Mick laughed a little out loud at that. 

“No, I don’t have feelings for you anymore J. I haven’t since you lost your eye.”

“Gee thanks Mick. You really know how to make a lady feel good about himself.”

“What? Oh no! I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that...” he trailed off again.

“Just what Mick?”

Mick took in a deep breath. This was it. He was about to confess his biggest secret, one that he had lived with for over twenty years now. 

“When you lost your eye, started wearing that patch and then eventually got the Theia, you stopped looking so much like him.”

“Like- oh,” realization dawned on Juno. “You had a crush on Benten?”

“It was more than a crush J, we were together. Had been for, god, it was a year the day he died.”

“Mick-“

“Please, let me tell my story before you say anything, okay J?”

“Alright,” Juno agreed after a moment. 

“I always had a thing for Ben, ever since we were little kids. I never actually thought he would like me back, but then there was that day where you invited me over but then you forgot and I was just waiting at your house and he was there. You didn’t get home until the next morning so we spent the night together, laughing and drinking and playing video games. It was one of the happiest days of my life. We started going out soon after that, and he was the best thing that ever happened to me. Benten made me feel like I was someone important.”

“We were supposed to meet up that night, for our anniversary. I got to the restaurant early and I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more and he never came. I stayed until the restaurant closed and after that I waited outside on the curb. I stayed there until Sasha called me. She told me that Ben was hurt real bad and that they didn’t think he was gonna make it. He was dead before I even stepped foot in the hospital.”

“Mick, I’m so sorry.” Juno took a shaky breath in. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Honestly J? I didn’t want to ruin our friendship or my relationship with Benten and it seemed like the only way to keep them both safe was to keep them separate.”

“Mick, you know I would have been fine with you guys dating.”

“No Juno, I don’t think you would have been. I know what you and Sasha think about me. You think I’m a screw up. I’m Mick the lovable idiot who’s been indebted since grade school and couldn’t get his life together if the world depended on it. You didn’t want a screw up dating your brother.”

“I’ve been a pretty shitty friend Mick, haven’t I?” Juno asked. “I’m sorry that you felt like you had to keep this from me.”

“It’s not your fault J. I should have told you after he passed, but I was afraid that you would blame me.”

“That’s ridiculous Mick, how could it be your fault?”

“I usually picked him up for dates, but uh, I crashed my hover cycle earlier that week, so we decided to just meet up at the restaurant. And then I waited so long. I should have gone to check on him, maybe if I had gotten there sooner he would still be alive.”

“You can’t think like that Mick. Trust me, I’ve been blaming myself for years, but blaming ourselves won’t bring him back. We have to face the truth that there was nothing we could have done. The only person responsible for his death was my mother, and even then she was so mentally ill, I don’t know if I can even blame her.”

Mick looked at Juno for a long moment. If he ignored the eyepatch he looked just like Benten. He even had that certain softness around his organic eye that Juno had never had. He found peace.

“You’ve really changed Juno,” Mick said. 

“Yeah, I think I have.” Juno smiled. “Oh, hey, I think I have something for you.” Juno rooted around in his coat pocket until he found a little chrome ring box. He handed it to Mick, who opened it and pulled out the ring that matched the chrome of the box.

“That was with his things at the hospital. I’ve been carrying it ever since. I didn’t know who it was for until now.”

A single hot tear ran down Mick’s face. With shaking fingers he pulled a chain that hung around his neck out of his t-shirt. On the chain hung a black cobalt ring. 

“I- I was going to propose the night he died,” Mick said, more tears spilling from his eyes, “I guess he had the same idea.”

“Mick,” Juno said, voice soft.

“I miss him so much Juno. Miss him so much my heart hurts.” Mick buried his head in his hands, letting his tears flow freely now. “Will it ever get better J? Will I ever be over him?”

Juno sat next to him on his bed and wrapped his arms around Mick’s shaking frame. 

“I know I’m not.”

“I don’t wanna leave you Juno. You’re the only person I have left. I want you to stay with me.”

“I have to see this thing through Mick. I have to find my-“ he hesitated “-teammate.”

Mick nodded, eyes stinging with more tears.

“You could come with me,” Juno suggested.

“No, I’d just be a burden. I’m sure your teammates wouldn’t want me there.”

“We’re not just a team Mick, we’re a family. And you’re my family too. Sure, Vespa will probably give you shit, but Buddy will understand.”

“If you say so,” Mick sniffled. 

“Come on, let’s go to bed. I’ll introduce you to the others in the morning.” 

Juno and Mick fell asleep in each other’s arms that night. It wasn’t romantic or sexual, it was just two best friends, two brothers finding comfort in each other. God knows they both needed it. And in the morning they would find Buddy and Vespa and Jet and Rita, and they would sell the jewelry Juno stole for enough money to get them the next planet over. Maybe they would find Nureyev there, maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe Vespa would figure out how to use the cure mother prime and maybe she wouldn’t. 

None of those questions mattered tonight, however. Tonight was about Juno and Mick and their shared love of Benzaiten Steel. The world would wait for one night.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Mick so much and I really want him to be part of the crime family.


End file.
